The No. 1 University of Minnesota men's hockey program returns to action this weekend with a nonconference home series against in-state rival Minnesota State at Mariucci Arena. The Friday/Saturday series features a pair of 7:10 p.m. CT start times with both games available on FOX Sports North PLUS as well as online streaming at BTN2Go.com. Friday radio's broadcast will be broadcast on 1500 ESPN while Saturday's finale will move to MyTalk 107.1.

Last Time Out

After recording Minnesota's best October (5-0-1) since the 2001-02 season, the Gophers split their first series of November against then-No. 3/4 Notre Dame on the road. Minnesota fell 4-1 to the Irish on Friday before rallying for a 5-4 win on Saturday. Hudson Fasching (2-1--3) and Taylor Cammarata (1-2--3) led the Gophers' in scoring over the weekend while Adam Wilcox went 1-1-0 against the Irish, earning the starting nod in goal for both nonconference games.

Minnesota State Notables

In a series that dates back to 1998, Minnesota is 33-10-6 all-time against the in-state rival Mavericks. The Gophers hold a 16-4-6 record against this weekend's opponent at Mariucci Arena with the teams evenly splitting the last 10 meetings with five wins each. Nate Condon leads Minnesota with six points (one goal, five assists) in eight career games against the Mavericks while Kyle Rau has five points (one goal, four assists) in six games against Minnesota State.

Coaching Connection

Mavericks head coach Mike Hastings is in his second year at the helm in Mankato. Hastings served as an assistant coach at Minnesota during the 2008-09 season and is the third assistant under Don Lucia to become a Division I head coach (St. Cloud State head coach Bob Motzko served under Lucia at Minneosta from 2001-05, Colorado College head coach Scott Owens served under Lucia with the Tigers from 1993-95). The Gophers are 2-2-0 against Hastings.

No Place Like Home

The 2013-14 season marks the 20th campaign in which the Gophers have called Mariucci Arena home. The facility was officially opened on Aug. 21, 1993 with an alumni game. Since opening Mariucci Arena, the Gophers are 280-112-43 at their home rink. Recently, Minnesota went 14-3-3 at Mariucci Arena in 2012-13 while the team is 36-9-4 on home ice since the start of the 2011-12 season.

Lucia Earns 350th Win at Minnesota

Saturday's 5-4 win over Notre Dame gave Minnesota head coach Don Lucia his 350th win as head coach of the Gophers. Lucia owns a 350-183-60 record in 15 seasons at Minneosta and boasts an overall coaching record of 629-338-89. Only Doug Woog (1985-99) has more wins at Minnesota with 390.

Fasching Earns Big Ten Honor

Hudson Fasching currently leads all Big Ten rookies in points (11), goals (five) and plus/minus (+12). The Minnesota freshman was named Big Ten Third Star of the Week for his performance against Notre Dame -- the newcomer had three points (two goals, one assist) against the Irish. The Gophers have had six Big Ten honorees in five weeks so far this season and have been represented on the accolades list in all four series (Minnesota was off the week of Nov. 5). Fasching is the fourth Gopher to earn distinction this season, joining Kyle Rau, Justin Kloos and Sam Warning, who started the season with Big Ten weekly honors for three-straight weeks.

Freshmen Focus

Saturday's game against the Irish saw all five Minnesota goals come off the sticks of freshmen with Hudson Fasching tallying a pair of goals and Justin Kloos, Taylor Cammarata and Jake Bischoff added one goal each.The freshmen class has accounted for 43 percent of Minnesota's points this year (42-of-97) as well as 49 percent of the team's goals (17-of-35). The Gophers also boast the Big Ten's top three scoring freshmen in Fasching (5-6--11), Kloos (3-7--10) and Cammarata (3-6--9).

Warning Signs

Junior Sam Warning ranks first in the Big Ten in points with 14, assists with nine and plus/minus at +13. The forward is also tied for the Big Ten lead in goals with five. Warning and freshmen Hudson Fasching have both tallied at least one point in all eight games this season for Minnesota.

Wilcox Against the Best

In 47 career games played, Adam Wilcox has posted a 31-9-6 overall record. Out of those games, 23 have been played against nationally ranked opponents with the sophomore netminder recording an 13-7-3 record against ranked teams including last weekend's split with Notre Dame.